Immortal Threat
by Shelby-Danvers
Summary: A failed attempt on Megatron's life condemns Starscream to be terminated. When his trine is tasked with retrieving his body, they are surprised to find him still online. Is it a failure on Megatron's part...or is it something else?
1. The Plot

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers, and make no profit from the writing/posting of this story. It's all in good fun.

**A/N:** So, here it is, my first attempt at posting a TF fanfic here. I figured it was time to suck up the inferiority complex and just go for it. Hope you enjoy.

**Summary: **A failed attempt on Megatron's life condemns Starscream to be terminated. When his trine is tasked with retrieving his body, they are surprised to find him still online. Is it a failure on Megatron's part...or something else?

***

Starscream, Air Commander of the Decepticon army, walked briskly down the corridor towards his private quarters. His fists were clenched at his sides, his faceplates fixed into an ugly grimace, every step accompanied by the low hum of his turbines. Anger radiated from his chassis, effectively clearing the halls long before he got there. Starscream's hair-trigger temper was legendary among the lower ranks. And a hit from his primary weapons, the null-rays he himself had invented a long time ago, was nothing to laugh about. Few mechs found humor in the complete deactivation of their physical and mental functions. Though, depending on the mech involved, their comrades certainly could.

He finally reached his quarters and roughly punched in the keycode.

"_Starscream!_"

Starscream flinched at the deep, raspy voice that had shouted his name. His first instinct was to ignore it; he was exhausted, and he still had plenty to do before he could recharge. But he knew from experience that there was no avoiding the confrontation that was coming. Slowly, he turned to face the silver-armored mech storming down the corridor towards him. If Starscream had been enough to clear the halls of wandering Decepticons, this new arrival had them fleeing the entire sector. Such was the power of Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.

"Yes, my _lord_?" Starscream said, tone dripping with disdain.

"I thought I ordered you to remain in the command center," Megatron growled at him, crossing his arms and making sure that the massive fusion cannon mounted to his right arm was in plain sight. As the cannon was roughly the size of his arm anyway, this wasn't a difficult task.

"You thought wrong," Starscream retorted. "I didn't hear you 'order' me to do anything. You really ought to learn the difference between an order and a suggestion. Not all of us are so terrified of you as to do whatever you _suggest_."

Megatron scowled, and for a moment, looked like he would quite like to hit his second-in-command. "Your insubordination grows tiresome, Starscream," he said.

"As does your incompetence," Starscream shot back, his shrill voice rising in pitch as he closed the gap between them. There was a very real possibility of getting physically hurt, he knew that, but he wasn't about to let the tyrant intimidate him.

"Oh?" Megatron said in a warning tone. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"My Seekers had that mission!" Starscream snapped. "We would have taken out that convoy if you hadn't barged in trying to steal the glory!" He prodded Megatron in the chest with a finger.

Megatron's optics flashed in anger at being reminded of the failed mission. "You and I obviously share a very different definition of competence, Starscream," Megatron snapped, unfolding his arms to slap Starscream's hand away.

"That's the first smart thing you've said since the mission," Starscream hissed. His reward was a sharp backhand to the face, with enough force to knock him back a few steps. He glowered at the commander even as he raised a hand to check for damage.

"Aw, did I hurt you?" Megatron leered, every word coated in false concern.

Starscream instinctively stepped back as Megatron advanced on him. "Frag off," he said. "You've got plenty of mindless grunts at your disposal, go lord your authority over them. You're only making yourself look _weak_ to me."

Megatron grabbed him by the neck then, his rough grip threatening to crush the sensitive wires and cables. "How's this for weak?" he snarled. "Get this straight. You may be my second-in-command. But you are still my subordinate, and I refuse to tolerate your belligerence. Consider this your last warning, Starscream. One more time, and I'll have you deactivated. Violently." He let go, watching impassively as Starscream stumbled back against the wall. "You're working a double-shift to make up for this little outburst. Don't get too comfortable."

Starscream, struggling to relieve the pressure on the critical wires in his neck, could only sputter and glare as the tyrant stormed away. Dozens of insults ran through his core processor, but by the time he regained the ability to vocalize them, Megatron was gone. "Slagger," he spat, once again punching in the keycode to his private quarters.

Though his status as second-in-command afforded him one of the largest quarters on the base, Starscream kept it sparsely furnished. The most prominent feature of the room was a small laboratory set up in the far corner. Starscream's specialities were best described as eclectic. Not only was he the single best aerial tactician and warrior in the Decepticon army - a skill envied by many, including, Starscream suspected, the commander himself - he also had a background in the sciences and deep-space exploration. Most of the time, the only advantage this gave him was the ability to insult Megatron in languages the warlord wasn't fluent in. There was, however, the odd occasion when this training would prove to be more...advantageous.

There was a buzz at his door, and he activated the comm link.

"It's Thundercracker," a deep voice filtered through.

Starscream released the lock on the doors, and walked towards his repair berth. He didn't bother to turn on the lights, using his infrared vision to make his way. He perched on the edge of the berth, crossing his long legs, waving one sleek blue foot in the air. "It's about time," he said.

"Well, excuse us," a higher-pitched voice snapped in reply. "We only had to cross the entire fragging base and sneak unauthorized into one of the most secure sectors. You're lucky we didn't just tell you to frag off!" The owner of the voice, another Seeker named Skywarp, hit the lights and dropped into the chair behind Starscream's desk with a huff.

Starscream didn't even wince at the sudden brightness. He had already anticipated that one of them would turn the lights on, and he had adjusted his optical sensors accordingly. He passed a scrutinizing gaze over his two trine-mates, both Seekers identical to him in every way but their colour schemes. As with most things Starscream involved himself in, his colouring was the most striking, bordering on garish.

The silence was too much. Starscream hopped off of the berth, holding out one sky-blue hand as he approached Thundercracker. "Well?" he said expectantly. "Did you get it?"

Thundercracker shifted on his feet, glancing worriedly at Skywarp, but finally produced a small glass vial.

Starscream felt a smile threaten to dislodge his damaged jaw hydraulics. "Excellent," he said. "I knew I could count on you, Thundercracker." He took the vial and held it up to the light, his cooling fans kicking in as he realized what the clear liquid inside actually was.

Thundercracker looked at Skywarp again. "Okay, 'Warp and I did our part," he said. "We want out of this."

Starscream, still fascinated with the contents of the vial and what they meant, had to do a double-take. "Out?" he repeated. "You're kidding me, TC, right?"

Thundercracker shook his head, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture. "This is crazy, what you've got in mind, Starscream," he said. "Even if you manage to kill him..."

Starscream felt a flash of rage surge through him. "What do you mean, 'if' I manage?" he snapped, marching over to stand toe-to-toe with Thundercracker, until their faces almost touched. "There is no 'if' in this. This army is suffering under the rule of that outdated, incompetent pile of scrap." He took a step back and straightened up. "Megatron will die, and I will be waiting to take his place as leader of the Decepticons."

Hearing himself speak the words sent a shiver through Starscream's frame. There was once a time when he had idolized the Decepticon leader. He had once kneeled at the tyrant's feet just like everyone else. But from his position at Megatron's right hand, Starscream saw things that the other Decepticons never did. He saw a leader struggling with the demands of his position. He saw a leader desperate to disguise his own failures in whatever way he could: most of the time by passing the blame to whatever subordinate happened to be closest at the time. No. He didn't see a leader anymore, just an weak old glitch that needed to be eliminated for the sake of the Decepticon cause.

"And what makes you think the 'Cons will take you seriously as a leader?" Skywarp spoke up. "The only way you're gonna earn everyone's respect is to defeat him in a one-on-one challenge."

"There's more than one way," Starscream said, turning on a thruster-heel and crossing his quarters to his lab. He didn't really mind the indifference towards his past life that the other Decepticons displayed; in fact, in this case, he was counting on it. "It doesn't matter _how _I destroy Megatron, only that I _will_. The others will come to understand that soon enough."

The two Seekers watched as their trine leader carefully studied the vial of liquid. He waited for a moment, fingers tapping impatiently against the desk, until data began to scroll across the vidscreen. "Amazing," he said. "I didn't think you'd be able to get your hands on a sample this pure." He carefully disposed of the test sample.

"What is it?" Skywarp spoke up, before a sharp glare from Thundercracker had him realizing that he probably didn't want to know. When it came to Starscream's ambitions, ignorance was bliss.

But that didn't mean that Starscream wasn't going to tell them. They might run to Megatron and confess if not for the fear of being labelled accomplices. "To us, it's a potent poison," he said. "Undetectable to the sensors. By the time the old fool realizes I've dosed him with it, it'll be too late. He should have just enough energy to declare me the new leader of the Decepticons before he goes offline."

Thundercracker and Skywarp shared another glance at their fellow Seeker's declaration. Starscream had always been the most ambitious member of their trine. That ambition, in part, had helped him climb the ranks of the Decepticons to the comfortable position of Megatron's second-in-command. Secretly, the two of them weren't sure Megatron had made the best choice; the promotion seemed to have awakened an unstable, ruthless side of Starscream, never content with what he had, always striving for more.

Starscream knew that look. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" he said.

"Crazy doesn't cut it," Skywarp said stubbornly. "You've completely fried a processor."

Starscream raised one optic ridge as he turned his attention to Thundercracker. He knew he already had his trine-mate under his spell. Thundercracker had never been certain of the Decepticon cause in the first place, especially when it came to Megatron's reliance on brute force and mass destruction. If, maybe, there was a way to achieve their goals through more stealthy and guileful tactics, Thundercracker's uncertainties might ease. And of course, there was the trine loyalty; Starscream knew that both of his trine-mates would be more than glad to see one of their own take over as leader. Even if it was only for the boost in status it would earn them.

"Fine," Thundercracker said. "But if you get caught, 'Warp and I had no part in this."

"I wouldn't dream of implicating you," Starscream said, following as they walked to the door. "Just remember to keep away from Soundwave. I can trick that lousy telepath. You can't."

"Whatever," Skywarp said, hitting the switch to open the door. "C'mon, TC, we might be able to sneak out while security changes shift."

Thundercracker saw him out, then turned to Starscream. "I hope you know what you're doing," he said. "If Megatron survives and finds out you were behind the attempt on his life, you're gonna lose yours."

Starscream answered with a cocky smile, and the others wondered if he was capable of any other kind. "Oh, I doubt that," he said.

***

Thanks for reading! Next part coming up soon.


	2. The Act

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Transformers, and make no profit from the writing/posting of this story. It's all in good fun.

**A/N**: Wow. I'm a little stunned at the positive response so far. Thanks to everyone who's left a review and/or added this to their Alerts.

**Summary: **Starscream gets his chance; however, things don't exactly go as planned…

**Part 2**

"Fellow Decepticons!" Megatron shouted over the sound of loud, obnoxious laughter. He raised his cube of high-grade Energon as he did. "It may only be a small defeat over the Autobots that I have achieved for us, but it is a victory nonetheless! Let us celebrate!"

Starscream made a sound resembling a derisive snort. He sat with his arms folded, refusing to touch the high-grade in front of him, oblivious to the curious looks that the others at the table were giving him. Glorious victory, indeed. As usual, it had been his Seekers, under his command, who had accomplished the mission, taking out a critical Autobot supply convoy; a much more successful version of their previous mission. And, of course, the commander was being positively stubborn in not recognizing their efforts. He hissed softly to himself as more laughter broke out, and he adjusted the sensitivity of his audio receptors. Briefly, he contemplated downing some high-grade, just for the slight buzz and ability to tolerate his suddenly intolerable comrades. He shook his head to that. No. There could be an opportunity here. He had to keep a clear head.

"What's the matter, Starscream?" Megatron said then, his words running together slightly. "Are you too good to celebrate with the rest of us?"

Starscream responded by deliberately averting his gaze. This normally angered his leader; this time, it only made him laugh.

"What's with the attitude, Starscream?" Megatron said, getting up somewhat shakily and walking around the table to claim the chair directly beside him. "Are you not glad for our victory?"

Starscream glared at him. "Tell them the truth, and I might be," he hissed.

"Truth?"

"You had nothing to do with the destruction of that convoy!" Starscream said, unfolding his arms to prod him in the chest. "It was my Seekers!"

Megatron's optics flashed, and he lowered his voice so that only Starscream could hear his next words. "What does it matter?" he replied. "You seem to forget, Starscream, that your Seekers - yourself included - are nothing but a means to achieve my ends. You seem to envision yourself as this great commander…"

"I don't just _think _so," Starscream hissed. "I've _proven _I am."

"Don't overestimate yourself," Megatron retorted. "You would be nothing without me."

Starscream scoffed. "I believe you've got that backwards, _almighty _Megatron," he said. "It's _you _who would be nothing without me. If I wasn't here, you would be well and truly slagged."

"You overestimate your importance, as usual," Megatron growled. "I suggest you keep your pride in check and at least _pretend_ to be enthused about our victory."

Starscream glared at him, but said nothing else. There was no point. In his opinion, the leader's processors were addled enough at the best of times, but with a fair bit of high-grade in his system, there was just no reasoning with him. "Fine," he snapped.

"You can start by getting me some more high-grade," Megatron said, giving him a shove that nearly knocked him out of his chair. He laughed at this, as did most of the other Decepticons gathered at the table.

Starscream recovered quickly, bolting to his feet and just barely stopping himself from trying to cave in Megatron's faceplates. Temporarily stowing his pride, he stepped around the table and headed for the Energon dispenser, faceplates hot with humiliation. The old fool never missed an opportunity to lord his strength over him. Well, he would show him that there was more to it than physical strength.

Skywarp had overheard the last parts of the conversation. He looked at Starscream as he passed, saw the small, cold smile forming on his trine leader's face, and alarm flashed on his own. He nudged Thundercracker and said something that was promptly drowned out by another round of laughter nearby.

Starscream ignored them and continued walking. Anticipation seemed to heighten his senses; he was suddenly more aware of everything around him. The noise of the celebrating crowd seemed to bore right into his processors and set off a dull ache there. He would give the fools something to celebrate soon enough. He waited for the next uproar of raucous laughter, the attention of the gathered Decepticons on a particularly crude impression of defeated Autobots, and he took his chance. Taking advantage of his wingspan to shield his actions from view, he opened a small compartment in his arm, removing the small glass vial. As the cube in his other hand filled, he quickly removed the stopper and emptied the meager contents of the vial. There was a brief reaction, the Energon bubbling fiercely. And then all trace of the poison was gone. Replacing the empty vial with a mental note to destroy it as soon as possible, Starscream made his way back to the table.

Skywarp was staring at him with an almost pleading expression. As Starscream passed him once more, he looked up and reached for Starscream's arm. He shook his head faintly when Starscream looked down at him. "Don't," he said, just loud enough for Starscream to hear. "Just…don't, 'Screamer."

Starscream frowned, momentarily stalled by Skywarp's odd behaviour. But then Megatron let out an obnoxious, booming laugh, and his resolve was strong once more.

Megatron didn't notice the exchange between the Seekers. "Glad to see you're doing what you're told for once," he said as Starscream set the cube in front of him.

"I live to serve," Starscream retorted with a dramatic bow, walking back around to his own seat and dropping down to wait. He met Soundwave's gaze for a moment; though there was no way to tell behind the Communications Officer's visor and facemask, he knew the telepath was in no condition to go rooting around in his thoughts. Starscream's thoughts would be lost amidst the chaos, anyway. He laughed inwardly as he imagined what all of these fools were going to think when the high-grade wore off and they realized that their beloved leader was dead. If that didn't cure some of them of their habits, there wasn't much that would.

Skywarp half-rose from his seat, looking for a moment as if he wanted to intervene. Thundercracker stayed in his seat, staring hard at the floor as if he would like nothing more than for it to open up and swallow him. Rumble, completely oblivious to the tension, broke into a peal of laughter at a joke Frenzy had just told him, effectively distracting Soundwave as well.

Starscream watched intently as Megatron raised the cube to his mouth. Any moment now. Every circuit in his body seemed to tingle with anticipation. He pulled a long cycle of air through his intakes as the cube emptied. Finally, Megatron slammed the empty cube onto the table, and looked up to meet Starscream's gaze. The second-in-command couldn't help it; a wicked smile crossed his face.

It took only a moment. Confusion came over Megatron's face as he raised a hand to his throat, hunching over. Even over Rumble's continued laughter, Starscream could hear the commander's frantically cycling intakes, strangled sounds emitting from his vocalizer. A violent tremor ran through his frame; he pushed back from the table, trying to stand and falling to his knees instead. Soundwave was at Megatron's side faster than anyone had ever seen him move before. The incessant chatter that had filled the room was starting to subside as processors sluggish from overcharging began to register that something was very, very wrong.

Rumble climbed up on his chair to get a better look. "Whoa," he said. "Should we get him to repair bay?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave said, tension in the monotone of his voice. He gestured at Thundercracker to help. Together, they hauled Megatron to his feet. Their leader was still making those strangled sounds, but they were growing fainter, accompanied by the rapid flickering of his optics. He would have fallen forward if not for Soundwave's hand bracing against his chest.

Starscream watched as Megatron was half-carried from the room, smug satisfaction all over his faceplates. They would try to save him, of course. But by the time they got him to repair bay, it would be too late. The poison would make its way through his system, reach his main processors and his spark chamber, and that would be it.

Skywarp sat in his seat, shivering slightly as Starscream looked at him. "I told you not to do it," he said quietly. He shook his head, then vanished into thin air.

"Wh-what just happened?" Frenzy said, one hand against his head as he tried to figure it out.

Starscream, recovering from another bout of unusual behaviour from Skywarp, shrugged. "It seems our all-powerful leader can't hold his high-grade," he said.

"No way," Rumble said. "Y'see the way Soundwave freaked out? Somethin' was _wrong_."

Starscream scoffed. "The way that obsequious fool fawns over Megatron, I'm not surprised that he'd overreact," he said.

"Hey!" Rumble and Frenzy shouted in unison. "You take that back!" Rumble added, shaking a fist.

Starscream shook his head, giving the ceiling a plaintive glance. "Oh, I'm so afraid," he said.

"You should be!" Frenzy cried, charging across the table to attack. He managed to catch Starscream, who hadn't expected such a reckless move, off-guard, and knocked the Seeker to the floor.

"You fragging little glitch!" Starscream snapped, picking him up with one hand and casually tossing him away. "I'm going to make you regret that when I've taken over as leader!"

Frenzy stopped in mid-charge.

"Whadaya mean, 'taken over as leader'?" Rumble said.

Starscream got to his feet, but didn't dignify the cassette with a reply. With the whole room's optics on him, he walked out of the room, humiliated for the second time, this time at being taken down by _Frenzy _of all mechs. It was almost enough to overpower the impatience that was making its way through his processors. Had Megatron gone offline yet? Were they still trying to save the old fool's life?

Skywarp suddenly appeared right in front of him. "Just been to the repair bay," he said.

Excitement jolted through Starscream's circuitry at that. "And?" he prompted. His trine-mate refused to look at him, staring hard at a wall instead. He grabbed Skywarp by the shoulder and turned him so their optics met. "Slag it, Skywarp, tell me!"

Skywarp suddenly lashed out, shoving Starscream hard in the chest. "He's dead, all right?" he snapped. "Are you happy? You killed our leader, you stupid glitch! We might as well just walk up to Autobot HQ and surrender now!"

Starscream didn't appreciate the insinuation, but he was far too exhilarated to take issue with it. He had done it! He had finally gotten rid of the old glitch! Still, Skywarp _was _behaving oddly, and he wasn't sure he could trust his trine-mate's word. "I'll be happy once I've confirmed it for myself," he said, shouldering his way past Skywarp and walking briskly towards the repair bay.

He found Soundwave hunched over one of the repair berths, on which the lifeless form of their commander lay. Thundercracker stood near the door.

"Skywarp just told me," Starscream said to him. "Is it true?"

Thundercracker looked at him, a pained expression on his face. He started to speak, failed, and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Starscream," he finally managed to say.

Starscream watched as Thundercracker turned and walked away. He didn't quite understand what Thundercracker was talking about, but it wasn't important. Or rather, it was less important than confirming that Megatron was dead. "Such a shame," he said as he approached the berth.

"Silence," Soundwave droned.

"I don't think you're in any position to be giving me orders," Starscream said. "Megatron's dead. I'm his second-in-command. That means I advance to leader of the Decepticons." He smiled with smug satisfaction. It was thrilling sight, Megatron lying there, dead by his hand. He leaned over the berth to peer into Megatron's grey optics -

- as they suddenly blazed to life, glowing an angry crimson even as his hand shot upwards and clamped around Starscream's neck.

The Seeker let out a screech of shock, his own optics wide as Megatron rose from the berth, hand still wrapped around Starscream's neck in a crushing grip. He pawed helplessly at Megatron's hand, fear quickly replacing his earlier excitement. He didn't understand what was going on, at least not until he recovered from the shock. _He knew! _his processors screeched at him. _Somehow, he knew!_

"No!" Starscream managed to say, even as Megatron's grip cut off vital wires and caused his processors to buzz with static. "I-I thought...you're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" Megatron snapped. "And what would give you that idea, Starscream?"

Starscream shook his head as best he could. It was hard to think; vehement denial was the best he could come up with.

Megatron used his other hand to roughly grab Starscream's arm, triggering open the compartment in his forearm. The glass vial fell out then, landing on the floor with a soft clink. With a furious snarl, he stomped hard on the glass, crunching it under his foot. "You wretched _traitor_," he hissed.

Starscream managed only a small whimper; the last thing he saw was Megatron's fist rushing towards his face.

*****

Again, thanks for reading! I hope to have the next part up soon. Oh, and if someone wants to help a n00b out and suggest where the violence threshold between a T and an M rating is, you would be awesome and get special mention in the next part ;)


	3. The Guilt

**Disclaimer**: Yep, I still don't own Transformers, and I still make no profit from the writing of this story. It's still all in good fun…erm, if you can call this story 'fun'.

**A/N: **Thanks again to everyone who's left a review or added this to their alerts. And, as promised, special thanks to dixiegurl13, Fire From Above, and DitzyMusicLover for the advice. I ultimately went a rather non-violent route with this chap, but the advice was appreciated nonetheless.

**Summary: **Thundercracker and Skywarp try to come to terms with their role in Starscream's defeat, and are dealt a shocking surprise…

***Part Three***

"It's time."

No one moved as Megatron spoke the words. They had known it was coming. The other Decepticons were starting to talk, wondering why Starscream was still alive, even if he _was _locked up in the brig. Megatron couldn't afford to let the Air Commander's treachery go unpunished any longer. And so, it was time.

Thundercracker and Skywarp turned to look at each other as the doors hissed closed. There was no mistaking the guilt on either of their faces. The dark Seeker opened his mouth to speak, failed, and shook his head pitifully.

"Lord Megatron will reward the two of you greatly."

Thundercracker clenched his fists at Shockwave's declaration. The one-opticked mech was staring at them. There was an undeniable arrogance in Shockwave's voice; they could tell that, had Shockwave been in possession of a proper face, he would be smirking at them. Thundercracker's fists tightened, feeling as if he might pop the joints at any moment. He activated his vocalizer to retort, but was beaten to it by his trine-mate.

"He'll reward us?" Skywarp was the one to retort. "Oh, great, I feel so much better about the whole thing now. Hear that, TC? We'll be _rewarded _for just sitting here and letting Starscream get slagged. That's wonderful, isn't it?"

Thundercracker heaved a sigh; Skywarp's vocalizer was running at an abnormally high pitch, his words running together in a slightly hysterical babble. He might have said something, told Skywarp to calm the frag down, but he had no room to talk; the thoughts running through his processor had much the same hysterical feel to them. Guilt gnawed at his spark. He unclenched his hands - they were starting to hurt - and winced as he looked at them. He wished they belonged to someone else, because knowing what those hands had done, and knowing that they were _his_…

A shrill, panicked shriek sounded somewhere in the base.

Skywarp was out of his seat before he even realized that he was moving. Even if Starscream was an insufferable, egomaniacal glitch most of the time, he was still part of their trine. Hearing him scream like that triggered an instinctive need to find him, to help him.

A distant, dull _clang _rang out, and it occurred to Thundercracker that the brig was somewhere beneath them. As if being trapped in his own mind wasn't enough, he would have to listen to his trine leader meet the end he, Thundercracker, had helped to bring about.

Shockwave inclined his head. "It is a waste," he said, his tone flat. "Starscream was an asset to the Decepticon cause."

"Tolerance of treachery will invite accusations of weakness," Soundwave pointed out, not turning from his console.

"I am aware of that," Shockwave replied. "I was not condoning Starscream's actions, nor was I making a plea for Megatron to spare him. I was merely making a logical observation."

Skywarp spun around in his seat. "And you can shove your logic up your exhaust port!" he snapped.

Shockwave glanced at him. "A logical observation," he said again. "Lest I be mistaken for one of these over-emotional fools."

"I'm gonna show you _over-emotional_!" Skywarp yelled, bolting out of his chair and lunging for Shockwave. He stopped cold when another scream rang out.

Thundercracker stood up and rested a hand on Skywarp's shoulder. "C'mon, 'Warp, things are bad enough," he said quietly, so only Skywarp could hear. "Let's not make them worse."

"You think I'm just going to stand by and let these programming-impaired drones tell me I don't have the right to be upset about 'Screamer?" Skywarp snapped. "Look at them! Even if Megatron was the lousiest leader, they'd still be fawning over his every word! What if he was right, huh? What if Starscream was right?"

"Skywarp," Thundercracker said firmly. His trine-mate was going to get himself into some very deep trouble if he kept running his vocalizer. There was only a certain amount of gratitude that Megatron would show for-

- he shook his head, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts from his processors. He didn't want to think about it. He _wasn't _going to think about it.

Skywarp turned to him, faceplates twisted in anger, and it was clear he was on the verge of saying something very, very rude.

A high, terrified scream seemed to pierce through every part of the base, cut short by the sound of a discharging fusion cannon, and Skywarp's retort went unvocalized. A heavy silence fell over the command center, until Skywarp let out a curse vulgar enough to make Soundwave glare reprovingly at him, and spun around to kick the back of Megatron's throne.

Thundercracker walked back to his station and dropped into his seat as if all the energon had been sucked out of his fuel lines. He didn't even look up as the heavy footsteps sounded outside of the command center.

The doors hissed open, and Megatron stepped in. His optics were dull, his movements sluggish, as he walked to his throne and sank into it.

"My Lord?" Shockwave prompted.

Megatron didn't answer right away. He seemed to be preoccupied, staring hard at one of his hands rather than any of his lieutenants. "It is done," he finally said, his voice much quieter than usual. "The traitor has been terminated."

Skywarp let out a wail at that. Almost immediately, he clamped his hands over his mouth, optics wide with fear as Megatron's gaze fixed on him. A visible tremor running through his frame, he backed slowly towards his station, both he and Thundercracker expecting to face the business end of the fusion cannon at any moment.

Instead, Megatron rose to his feet. "I will be retiring to my quarters, Shockwave," he said. "See that I am not disturbed."

"Of course, Lord Megatron," Shockwave replied.

Megatron turned to face the two Seekers. "As for you two," he said. "You will dispose of his body. Perhaps that will remind you what awaits anyone who dares to betray me."

Skywarp made an odd sound; half growl, half whimper, as if he were trying to be brave and scaring himself in doing it. He took another step back as Megatron deliberately twitched his right arm, his cannon arm.

Thundercracker held his ground; in an abnormally brave move, he was glowering at the commander, as if he would like nothing more than to take Starscream's place as the resident insubordinate.

"Don't pull that Seeker unity nonsense on me," Megatron snapped at him. "May I remind the two of you that you were the ones to help expose Starscream as the traitor he was? You were especially helpful, Thundercracker."

"I don't need you to remind me," Thundercracker snapped back, an uncharacteristic defiance coming over him. He turned his head so he wouldn't have to see the puzzled expression Skywarp was giving him. "Believe me, if I had to go back and do it again, I wouldn't."

"Bold words for such a pathetic coward, Thundercracker," Megatron said coldly, his optics narrowing. "Or are you forgetting just how easily you turned on your beloved trine leader?"

Thundercracker's defiance faltered, and he averted his gaze, guilt jolting through his spark once more. "I didn't _want_ to!" he cried out, more to himself than Megatron. "I didn't!"

One corner of Megatron's mouth lifted at this, and he stepped closer, their chestplates almost touching. "And yet, Starscream lies dead in the brig now because of you," he said mockingly. His optics turned to Skywarp. "And you, of course."

Thundercracker balled his fists again. "Leave him alone!" he snapped. A small voice in his processor, some self-preservation subroutine, shouted at him for daring to speak like this to Megatron.

Skywarp's optics flickered back and forth between Thundercracker and Megatron, the look on his faceplates suggesting that he expected to lose a second trine-mate by the time this confrontation was over.

"I grow tired of this," Megatron growled then. "The two of you will dispose of Starscream's body. I want no sign of that worthless traitor's existence to be seen in this base again. Is that understood?"

Thundercracker remained silent, while Skywarp squeaked out something that might have been a 'yes, sir'.

Megatron grabbed Thundercracker by the arm, shaking him roughly. "I said, is that understood?" he shouted.

"Yes, sir," Thundercracker replied, jaw clenched tight.

"Well, then, do it," Megatron said, optics blazing with anger. "Now."

Skywarp didn't bother with the door; he teleported outside, rematerializing in front of the turbolift and watching as Thundercracker trudged down the corridor towards him. Neither Seeker said a word as they stepped into the lift. What was there to say, anyway?

"I hate Soundwave."

Thundercracker flinched, startled at Skywarp's sudden declaration. "What?" he said, unsure if he had heard him properly.

Skywarp was trembling, fists clenched, his faceplates twisted in anger. "I said I fragging _hate _Soundwave," he said. "What right did he have to go rooting around in my head like that? He never would have known if he hadn't decided to mess around with my processors. Does he do that all the time? Just randomly barge in and see what he gets? Is that his idea of fun or something?"

Thundercracker sighed, heaving a strong gust of air through his intakes.

Skywarp gave him a plaintive look. "You think I told Megatron!" he wailed.

Thundercracker didn't answer.

"I didn't tell anyone!" Skywarp said, angrily now. "It was Soundwave! That stupid glitch was _waiting _for something like this! It's not my fault I don't have the mental defenses the rest of the 'Cons have! He told Megatron, and how was I supposed to lie to _him_?"

Thundercracker had heard enough. "Stop," he said quietly, as the turbolift came to a stop, announcing that they had arrived at the detention level. "I'm not blaming you, 'Warp."

Skywarp kicked the wall. "Well, why not?" he muttered.

"It's not your fault," Thundercracker replied, watching Skywarp kick the wall again. "If anyone's to blame here, it's me." He offlined his optics as Skywarp turned to look at him, shoulders slumping in defeat as he surrendered.

"Frag it all, TC, tell me what you're talking about or I'm gonna kick _you _instead!" Skywarp shouted, with a pointed jab of finger to chestplate for emphasis.

Thundercracker slapped his hand away irritably. "Haven't you wondered how Megatron survived taking that poison?" he said.

Skywarp's optics flickered, and he tilted his head to one side. He opened his mouth to reply, closed it, and nodded.

"It's because it wasn't poison," Thundercracker said, continuing the unbearably long walk to the brig. "I don't know how Megatron found out about it, 'Warp. All I know is that he showed up in my quarters, shoved that cannon in my face, and threatened to kill me if I didn't go along with _his _plan instead."

Skywarp's expression changed from angry to regretful. The two of them had a few things in common; a crippling fear of Megatron was one of them.

"I broke into Starscream's quarters while he was in recharge," Thundercracker continued, his vocalizer strained. "Swapped the poison for…I don't even know what it was. Something that would trick Starscream into believing it was still poison, but wouldn't actually harm Megatron…"

"That slagger!" Skywarp suddenly burst out. "If he knew, why didn't he just stop Starscream? Why go through all this stupid slag? Why drag us into it?"

"Simple enough, isn't it, 'Warp?" Thundercracker said bitterly. "He wanted to show Starscream that _he _has control over all of us, trine or not. Probably one of the last things he said to Starscream, telling him that _we _were the ones who caused his plan to fail."

"Frag!" Skywarp shouted. "Stupid! I hate him! I hate them _both_!"

With his secret exposed, Thundercracker had nothing else to say. So, he just walked alongside Skywarp, listening to the other Seeker rant and shout, with the violent outburst to the nearest wall, keeping it up until they entered the brig.

"You two here for the traitor?" the guard said, chuckling darkly. "Well, what's left of him, anyway. Last cell."

Thundercracker snapped, wasting no time in putting a dent in the guard's faceplates. Leaving him howling in pain, the two Seekers made their way to the very end of the brig. Skywarp had stopped ranting, trembling now in awful anticipation of what they were about to find. The two of them turned the last corner, and Thundercracker felt his processors lock up. They were certainly no strangers to death and destruction, but the sight of their trine-mate's broken body was so much worse.

Skywarp was rendered silent by the shock of it; he mouthed wordlessly, crossing his arms and refusing to step any further into the cell.

Thundercracker sank to the floor beside Starscream's body, shaking his head. "Slag it all, Starscream," he said softly. He gently rolled him onto his back, trying not to look at the extinguished grey optics and the shattered faceplates; trying not to look at _any _part of the body. He kneeled there for a moment, head bowed, fists clenched as they rested against his knees. Finally, he shook his head. "C'mon, Skywarp," he said.

Skywarp dropped to his knees on Starscream's other side. He glanced at the body and offlined his optics, refusing to look any closer.

Thundercracker started to lift Starscream into his arms, his gaze inadvertently drawn to the trine leader's chest plates, to the gaping wound there. That was probably the shot that had taken him offline for good; a point-blank fusion cannon blast to the spark. The wound still glowed faintly-

-_wait_, Thundercracker thought, frowning. _He's dead, nothing should be _glowing. Slowly, carefully, Thundercracker eased a broken piece of armor plating away, and stared in complete disbelief at the dimly flickering energy of Starscream's spark.

At that moment, a tremor ran through Starscream's frame. A flash of crimson illuminated his optics, dim at first, then glowing brighter. A low, garbled groan emitted from the damaged vocalizer.

"Skywarp!" Thundercracker hissed. "H-he's alive!"

Skywarp brought his optics back online just in time to see one of Starscream's hands lift. He let out a yelp and leapt to his feet, backpedaling until he ran into the wall of the cell. "That's impossible!" he said.

Thundercracker knew that. Megatron didn't leave his battles half-fought. There was no way he would leave Starscream without making sure he was dead. He rebooted his optics; maybe all the stress was starting to affect his processors. But even after his field of vision was restored, Starscream continued to move. Weak, barely discernible movements, but movements nonetheless.

"W-what's…g-going on?" the battered Seeker mumbled, his vocalizer hissing with static.

Skywarp and Thundercracker shared a glance.

"You tell us."

***

And once more, thanks for reading. Sorry the update took so long :( Stuff happened: life, less depressing plot bunnies, y'know.


	4. The Secret

**Disclaimer: **Alas, I still do not own Transformers.

**A/N: **Again, thanks to everyone who's reviewed and/or added this to their alerts. You make a very insecure writer very happy.

**Summary: **Skywarp and Thundercracker try to help with Starscream's repairs, while also keeping his continued existence a secret from the other 'Cons.

***Part Four***

Teleportation could be a finicky thing. Skywarp had learned that the hard way since first discovering his rare ability. Just one small, seemingly insignificant error could be enough to throw his warp off, sometimes with disastrous results. Skywarp had once managed to 'port himself right into the middle of an Autobot camp, meaning, of course, to warp to the Decepticon troops sneaking up on it. He still winced when he thought about it.

Within the Decepticon base itself was no different. Except, unlike the lazy, unguarded Autobots, every mech inside a 'Con base wouldn't hesitate to open fire if Skywarp were to suddenly, randomly appear in front of them. Then there was the matter of Megatron, who had banned him from using his teleportation abilities within the base, fed up with the complaints of other Decepticons who wound up on the wrong end of Skywarp's mischievous attitude.

And, given the particular circumstances, he would really rather steer clear of the warlord.

So it was with due caution that Skywarp made his way towards the repair bay. It was late, and except for routine security patrols, all of the base's inhabitants were safely out of his way. At least, that was what he was hoping. He didn't exactly look forward to explaining why he was in the repair bay, pillaging their stash of spare parts. Starscream's repairs were almost complete, he only needed one or two circuits replaced, and he would be back to full operational status. And still, he insisted on lying on the berth and acting like the brave survivor of some epic struggle. Melodramatic slagger.

Skywarp didn't bother with the door. Using the keycode would record his entry into the security logs. Instead, he warped to the other side.

The repair bay was silent. Skywarp thanked whatever higher power might have been listening that their campaign against the Autobots was going as well as it was. It meant no combat injuries, and it also meant fewer bouts between 'Cons. Which, in turn, meant no one to see him as he snuck through the bay in search of the parts he needed. He kept his sensors at maximum sensitivity, ready to 'port away at the slightest sign of trouble. He noticed that he was cycling air through his intakes at an increased pace, and forced himself to calm down. But _frag_, this was _unnerving_.

The storage area was locked. Skywarp narrowed his optics at the door. His energy levels were getting low, and besides, he was pretty sure he wouldn't fit inside the cabinet if he tried 'porting inside. He could always break the lock, but that was a dead giveaway that someone had been inside. He didn't know how to hack into the lock. Did Thundercracker? He wasn't sure.

The repair bay doors behind him suddenly hissed open, casting a narrow beam of light across the floor. Skywarp stifled a yelp and pressed himself into the shadows, thankful that the angle of the doorway didn't reveal him right away. He adjusted his optics and mentally cursed. Of all the mechs to randomly encounter at this time of the solar cycle!

"You're certain you detected an unauthorized entry?" Shockwave's voice spoke as the large, purple mech strode into the room.

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied. "Motion sensors were activated."

Skywarp offlined his optics; the glow would give him away. Not that it mattered; if either Shockwave or Soundwave decided to sweep for energy signatures, he might as well just jump out and wave.

Frag.

"Megatron has noticed some odd behaviour from the Seekers recently," Shockwave commented as they moved deeper into the repair bay, but thankfully away from Skywarp's pathetic hiding spot.

"Odd behaviour: expected," Soundwave replied.

"Yes, yes, all that trine unity nonsense," Shockwave said in a bored voice.

"Relevance to current situation?" Soundwave inquired.

Skywarp had to online his optics again, but he kept them at low power, just barely making out the forms of the two lieutenants searching the repair bay.

"Perhaps there is something that Thundercracker and Skywarp are not telling us," Shockwave said. "Megatron has postulated the theory that they may be rebuilding Starscream. That would explain this unauthorized entry."

Soundwave, apparently, didn't deem this worthy of an answer. Skywarp saw the Communications Officer's hand moving towards his left shoulder and winced. _Don't let Ravage out, please don't let Ravage out, _he thought frantically.

"I do not see cause for concern," Shockwave said, more to himself than to Soundwave. "Starscream was terminated. Even if they were to rebuild his body, what good would it be without a spark?"

Were they ever in for a surprise, Skywarp mused, chuckling to himself. Too late, he realized his mistake. This realization was followed by a cry of shock as light flooded his optical sensors. He frantically adjusted them, only to find himself staring down the barrels of two different weapons: Soundwave's concussion gun, and Shockwave's gun arm. "Um...hey," he said in a weak effort to appear nonchalant.

"What are you doing in here, Skywarp?" Shockwave asked.

Skywarp shrugged. "'Port went wrong," he said. "I got distracted during the calculations."

"You are aware that you have been forbidden from teleporting within the base?" Shockwave pointed out.

"Uh...yeah," Skywarp replied. "So, how 'bout I get out of here, and we forget this little encounter ever happened?"

Shockwave and Soundwave shared a glance, and Skywarp mentally cursed at the fact that neither mech had any sort of facial expression to read. "Megatron should be informed," Soundwave intoned.

Skywarp held up his hands. "Hey, c'mon, it was an accident!" he said. "I wasn't doin' it for a prank, I just didn't feel like walking back to my quarters, that's all!"

Neither mech moved for the longest time. Finally, Soundwave lowered his weapon. "Skywarp is lazy," he said. "Explanation is plausible."

Shockwave paused a moment longer, then lowered his arm as well. "Fine," he said. "You are free to go. So long as you return to your quarters immediately…and you _walk _there."

Skywarp laughed. "You won't regret this!" he said, clapping Soundwave on the shoulder as he ran past them, cooling fans working overtime as he realized just how close he'd come to having to explain his unauthorized jaunt to Megatron himself. But he still didn't have the part he needed. Frag. Starscream was going to be mad.

Skywarp sighed as he reached the hall housing his private quarters. He'd obeyed Shockwave's condition, with one small exception: a detour to the mess hall to grab some energon. He had taken a toll on his energy levels, and he could use some to placate Starscream. Passing his own door and thinking longingly of his recharge berth, he trudged towards Thundercracker's quarters. He pressed the button to request entry.

Nothing.

He pressed it again, and leaned closer to the door. He could just pick up the sound of voices, shouting angrily at each other. Another sigh, the gust from his vents rippling the surface of the energon in his hands. _That _was why no one could hear him trying to get in. They were fighting again. He shook his head, and the sound of footsteps nearby sent a jolt of alarm through him. He punched in the override code and dashed into the room as soon as the doors had opened wide enough to allow him. He still managed to get his wings caught in the gap, and was thankful that no one had noticed him making such a rookie mistake.

"...don't know how many times you insist on bringing this up!" Thundercracker was shouting, standing toe-to-toe with a very angry Starscream.

"As many times as it takes to get some slagging _answers_!" Starscream shrieked back.

Skywarp sighed as he set the cubes down. Starscream's repairs were proceeding well, it seemed, if he had enough energy to stand and argue with Thundercracker, not to mention doing it at such a ridiculous pitch. The darker Seeker flopped into a chair, knowing that neither of them were going to notice he was there for a while. He wasn't exactly clamouring to stick himself in the middle of the fight, either.

"I told you, okay?" Thundercracker snapped. "Look, you might be stupid enough to openly defy Megatron..."

"Stupid?" Starscream cut in, optics flashing dangerously. "Really, Thundercracker, you shouldn't go around insulting others simply because you refuse to accept the fact that you're a coward."

"And what would you have done?" Thundercracker snapped, throwing his arms out to the side in frustration. "What would you have done if Megatron had held that cannon to your face and threatened to kill you if you didn't do what he wants?"

Starscream started to speak, but faltered.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Thundercracker said, folding his arms in a self-satisfied sort of way. "Funny, isn't it, being called a coward by a mech who didn't even have the bearings to challenge Megatron properly."

Skywarp cringed at the silence that followed. "C'mon," he said, drawing their attention for the first time since he had arrived. "This fighting is stupid. We're a trine."

Starscream glared at him. "Are we?" he snapped.

"Hey, look, you didn't get slagged," Skywarp pointed out. "And we _are _risking our lives here, helping you with your repairs. If Megatron finds out, we're dead."

"So you think _that _makes up for-" Starscream began, voice rising in volume and pitch once more, until Thundercracker held up a hand.

"Did either of you hear that?" Thundercracker asked, walking to the door. He gestured at Starscream to keep out of sight, and keyed the door open.

Startled electronic snarling reached their audio receptors, and a sleek, black form vanished down the corridor.

"Slag!" Thundercracker said. "Ravage!"

Skywarp's optics flashed in alarm. "Soundwave must have sent him after me!" he said. Flinching under the weight of the glares he received from both Starscream and Thundercracker, he explained his encounter with Shockwave and Soundwave in the repair bay.

Starscream cursed. "Ravage is probably running to get that intrusive glitch as we speak," he muttered. "Please tell me you managed to get the circuit I needed, Skywarp."

"Sure, I could do that," Skywarp said. "Does it have to be the truth?"

Starscream sighed, dragging it out so it sounded more like a hiss.

"Hey, how 'bout you cool it with the superiority complex?" Skywarp said, suddenly fed up with his trine leader's attitude. He stormed over, prodding Starscream hard in the chest. "In case you haven't _noticed_, we're risking our afts for you! It wouldn't kill you to show some gratitude! Or would you rather we have left you lying in the brig? How long do you think it would have taken to repair _yourself_?" He paused, then continued right on. "Yeah, and that reminds me, you _still _haven't explained to us how the frag you're still _functioning!_"

Thundercracker raised his optic ridges at that. "Yeah, Starscream, I'm kind of interested to hear your take on it, myself," he said.

Starscream glared at them both, fists clenching at his sides in the way they did when he wasn't getting his own way with the trine. Finally, his shoulders slumped, defeated. "I don't know," he said. He walked over and sank onto the recharging berth. Seeing their dubious expressions, he frowned. "I don't know, okay? I remember Megatron beating the slag out of me. I remember him boasting about how he'd gotten _you _to turn on me. I remember him blasting me with that fragging fusion cannon. Then, everything goes black. Next thing I remember is coming online in here." He held his arms up in a helpless gesture. "That's it, I swear to it. I don't know how I survived."

A long silence fell as Starscream finished speaking, none of them quite sure what to make of the words.

"This just proves it, doesn't it?" Starscream said, crossing his arms.

"Proves what?" Skywarp asked, though he had a pretty good idea what the answer would be.

"Megatron's losing his edge," Starscream replied, with a wicked little smile. "He's gotten complacent. Did he ever check with you two to make _certain _you had disposed of me? How long before he starts committing such blatant oversights with, say, Autobot prisoners?"

"'Screamer, you've got to be kidding me!" Skywarp cried in exasperation. "Weird cosmic stuff aside, you should be dead, and you're still planning on trying to overthrow him?"

Starscream shrugged. "Obviously, he _can't _kill me," he said.

"It could've been a fluke," Skywarp said. "And next time, you could actually die."

"Your concern is _touching_, Skywarp," Starscream muttered, rising to his feet and striding across the room for the energon that Skywarp had retrieved.

"Look, all we're trying to say is that you need to be careful," Thundercracker said. "I mean, give it a little more time, until you're back to peak operational status. We just need to keep this a secret from Megatron for a little longer."

"Too late."

Almost in unison, the Seekers whirled to face the doorway that none of them had heard open. Skywarp let out a muffled cry of alarm, hands clapped over his mouth, Thundercracker cursed, and Starscream dropped the energon in his hands.

Standing there, framed by the light from the corridor, looking positively _livid_, was Megatron.

***

Once again, thanks for reading. Story's starting to wind down, I expect the next chapter might be the last. (Edit: As soon as I posted this, I realized that I was very wrong indeed. Three more chaps. At least.)


	5. The Battle

**Disclaimer: **Still no owning Transformers :(

**A/N: **Once again, thanks to everyone for reading/reviewing/alerting.

I'm not too happy with this chapter, to be honest. But for the life of me, I just can't figure out how to make it any better. The main point I'm trying to get across is the rise of the Autobots as an actual threat (whereas to this point, the 'Cons have basically regarded them as little more than a nuisance), and Megatron's realization that he's gonna need all the help he can get, which is me trying to dovetail this story into the cartoon scenario. I hope I don't disappoint you guys too badly.

**Summary: **The Seekers are spared from Megatron's wrath by an unlikely source: the Autobots.

***Part 5***

"Lord Megatron."

The Seekers had never been so collectively relieved to hear Shockwave's voice. Megatron still hadn't moved from his spot in the doorway, his faceplates twisted into an expression that suggested imminent death was in store for all current occupants of the room. To emphasize this, his right arm, his cannon arm, twitched impatiently, as if he longed to just raise his weapon and start blasting. As he stood there, optics boring into each of the Seekers in turn, Ravage slunk into the room, snarling at Starscream and seating himself at Megatron's feet. He looked up at the warlord, as if to say _I told you_.

"Lord Megatron, please respond."

Megatron ignored him once again. Slowly, he advanced on the Seekers. Skywarp backpedaled as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to put some distance between himself and the furious leader. Thundercracker also backed up, though not as far or as fast. Even Starscream, who had until this point been regarding Megatron with a smug little smile, took a step back, optics darting quickly round the room as if contemplating escape routes.

"Lord Megatron, please. It is imperative that you respond!"

Megatron finally tore his gaze away from the Seekers. "What is it, Shockwave?" he snapped over the open comm link. "I'm busy at the moment."

"I am receiving a distress signal," Shockwave said. "I have just received a transmission saying one of our strike groups are under attack by the Autobots. The counter-attack is being led by Optimus Prime."

"Optimus Prime," Megatron repeated, uttering the name of the new Autobot leader like a particularly nasty curse. "Order them to fall back and report to me later."

"I'm sorry, sir," Shockwave said. "But the Autobots seem to have them boxed in. They are unable to retreat."

"Then deploy another group to assist," Megatron said irritably. "For spark sake, Shockwave, you are my Military Operations commander, don't tell me you're this useless."

A pause. "Lord Megatron, forgive me," Shockwave went on. "But...the force under siege is the one you deployed earlier to retrieve the components for our newest project. If it were to fall into the Autobots hands..."

_That _got Megatron's attention. For a moment, he fell into deep thought. "Right," he said. He looked back at the just-arrived Soundwave. "Soundwave, escort Starscream to the brig," he said. "Try to avoid being seen, and join us once you have him locked away."

"As you command, Megatron," Soundwave replied.

Skywarp and Thundercracker half-expected Starscream to throw a fit about being left out of a possible battle, but their trine leader said nothing of the sort. He _did_, however, put up a fight when Soundwave crossed the room and grabbed him by the wrists, wrenching his hands behind his back. It was no use, of course; Soundwave's physical strength nearly matched that of Megatron himself. There was little he could do to resist as he was marched out of the room; they could hear him snapping insults at Soundwave in the hall.

Megatron shot a nasty glare at the door, then turned back to the remaining Seekers. "You two are coming with me," he said. "Maybe if you fight well, I'll consider sparing you for this foolish act of treachery."

Thundercracker almost protested the statement, but ultimately decided against it. He had seen the look on Megatron's face as the warlord discovered their secret; he knew he was walking a very fine line indeed between life and death. Slag him off just once, and he'd find himself with a gaping hole in his chest. So, rather than risk it, he and Thundercracker followed obediently.

Starscream continued to struggle against Soundwave all the way to the brig, first by trying to wrench himself out of Soundwave's grasp, and resorting to verbal assaults after he managed to tear a cable in his shoulder. Not that he was eager to take part in the battle. Starscream had no desire at all to be a part of the battle. He still wasn't fully repaired, and the circuit he had been counting on Skywarp to retrieve was part of his primary weapons. Only a complete idiot would rush into battle without their main weapons. No, his resistance to being locked up in the brig stemmed mainly from the fact that it was Soundwave putting him there.

Soundwave shoved him into the cell, activating the energy bars without so much as a glance at Starscream.

"You're gonna lose, you know that?" Starscream said conversationally.

"Silence," Soundwave retorted. "Traitor," he added.

Starscream grinned at that. "I'll be waiting to say 'I told you so' when you all get back," he said. "Maybe then Megatron will realize what a fool he was to ignore my contributions."

Soundwave said nothing more, merely turned his back on Starscream and marched back out of the brig.

*

Thundercracker could hear the sounds of the battle before his optical sensors detected it. The sound of angry and panicked shouts rose from the ground, almost rendered inaudible by the louder sounds of weapons fire. He and Skywarp led the way, followed by Megatron's second chosen Seeker trine. Skywarp had gotten into the habit of calling them 'coneheads', both for the shape of their helmets and the fact that the nickname sounded stupid, just like they, in his opinion, were.

"Hold up," Megatron's quiet order came over the comm link. He was holding position just out of sight of the Autobots, who were busy firing on an upturned shuttle; from behind the shuttle, Decepticons were firing back.

The sight of the new Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, brought an ugly sneer to the commander's face. Megatron had hated the new Prime from their very first meeting, probably because their very first meeting had ended with Megatron beaten and calling a retreat. More than a few Decepticons had found themselves on the receiving end of Megatron's wrath after that.

Thundercracker, in his normal mode, crouched on the roof of a nearby building, Skywarp touching down beside him. The Decepticons below were mostly grunts, deployed to protect a team of couriers as they transported the sensitive materials needed for their most recent project. Thundercracker knew the basics of the project, enough to know that he did not want the Autobots getting their hands on those components. At the same time, he worried about the upcoming battle. Would they be able to hold their own without Starscream? They hadn't fought a proper battle since before Starscream's attempt on Megatron's life.

"Ready, TC?" Skywarp said, his optics flashing with anticipation. "We're gonna teach those Autobots not to mess with us."

Thundercracker glanced at him and shook his head. "You sound like a rookie fresh out of the War Academy, 'Warp," he said, playfully punching him in the arm. "Hopefully you can fight better than you talk."

Skywarp grinned in response.

On the battlefield, Optimus Prime had called for his forces to cease fire. He turned, scanning the area with his optics.

The five Seekers, scattered among the nearby rooftops, crouched lower.

"Suggestion: attack now," Soundwave droned over the comm link, followed only a moment later by Megatron's battle cry.

"Decepticons, attack!"

Thundercracker leaped from the rooftop, transforming and streaking into the air, aiming a barrage of laser fire at the nearest Autobots. He could hear Ramjet barking orders to his trine-mates - though no one really knew who was the leader in their case.

"Autobot reinforcements incoming from the south," Soundwave alerted the others as he met the charge of a short, stocky Autobot.

"Acknowledged," Thundercracker said. "Skywarp, let's make it a little harder for them to get here!"

Skywarp cackled as he banked hard and opened fire on the bridge spanning a wide chasm; the bridge was the only direct way to approach from the south. The Autobot reinforcements would have to detour.

Thundercracker joined the assault, trying to ignore the feeling of anxiety slowly creeping over him. Something just felt wrong. He knew what it was, of course - the absence of Starscream. The three of them had been flying together for so long that it felt like a struggle just to focus. Any of their usual combat manuevers were useless, as they had been designed specifically for the trine. The best he could do was improvise. He noticed the coneheads execute a flawless attack run nearby and his spark twinged with jealousy.

He decided to check on the ground troops' progress then, and almost wished he didn't. Optimus Prime and his Autobots now had not only the grunts and couriers pinned down, but Megatron and Soundwave as well. Megatron was struggling to aim his cannon, but the Autobots were having none of it; every time he managed to raise it, an Autobot would open fire, hit the cannon, and knock his aim off. Soundwave was transmitting a distress signal.

"They're getting their afts kicked," Skywarp commented.

Thundercracker agreed, though he chose not to vocalize the thought. Until now, the Decepticons had fared well in ground-based combat against the Autobots. But this new leader of theirs seemed to have exceeded Megatron's meager expectations for him, and had managed to put together a proper army.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, look out!" Ramjet bellowed then.

Thundercracker noticed the warnings flashing into his field of vision then - an Autobot had a weapons lock on him. Cursing, he banked to the side, barely managing to avoid a laser blast. He ran a systems check and found himself to be undamaged. He suppressed a sigh of relief; another Autobot had a lock on him, there was no time to be relieved.

Skywarp was struggling, as well. It was no secret that he was the least intelligent and adaptive of the trine, and needed supervision on the battlefield. He needed someone to give him orders.

Another check on the ground troops revealed that their situation had gone from bad to worse. Decepticons were falling back, retreating, though Megatron and Soundwave still held their ground. Flames licked up the bottom of the upturned shuttle, casting eerie reflections over their leader's silver armor. Thundercracker could see the enraged scowl on Megatron's faceplates, the stubborn set of his jaw as he struggled to get a shot in on Optimus Prime.

"Megatron, Autobot reinforcements approaching from north," Soundwave warned.

The coneheads streaked away to take care of the new arrivals. At least, until a large blast of energy struck Ramjet dead center, knocking him out of the air.

It was unthinkable, Thundercracker thought to himself, that the Autobots would be able to land a hit on a Seeker, much less knock one out of the air. Even as the thought ran through his processors, another weapons lock warning flashed. He fired up his thrusters to get clear. It was only when he heard the pained cry behind him that he realized he had just left Skywarp to take the brunt of the blast for him. He turned just in time to see the purple Seeker plummet to the ground, landing just off of Megatron and Soundwave's position.

Now the Decepticons were in trouble. Their aerial force down by two members and Autobot forces converging on the battlefield, any hope of winning this fight was rapidly dwindling.

Skywarp hadn't moved from where he had crashed, despite Megatron's insistence that he get up and fight. Ramjet had vanished, presumably crashing somewhere out of visual range. Dirge and Thrust were now suffering from the same problem that Thundercracker and Skywarp had, the imbalance of their forces.

Thundercracker hovered on the brink of panic. _Call a retreat_, he thought. _C'mon, Megatron, we can't win this, call it off_.

"Give it up, Megatron!" Optimus Prime's booming voice sounded over the fading sounds of battle. "Look around. You're losing your warriors. You can't win!"

Megatron seemed to agree. There was an odd, high note in his voice as he gave the one order he absolutely hated to give.

"Decepticons, retreat!"

Thundercracker dove towards the ground, transforming into his normal mode to retrieve Skywarp, largely ignored by the rest of the forces. The other Seeker was battered, a nasty tear in one wing where he'd been hit, but he managed to summon up enough strength to transform and take off.

*

Megatron was fuming by the time they reached the base, vowing eternal vengeance on Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Aside from the occasional murmur of agreement, the other Decepticons were silent. Thundercracker and Skywarp, in particular, were eager to stay out of the leader's sights; there was no telling when he would remember the confrontation from before.

"Couriers report components destroyed," Soundwave intoned as they exited the turbolift.

Megatron gave a long, hissing sigh as he trudged towards the command center, beckoning the Seekers to follow him, possibly to hand them their punishment. "I never expected Prime to pull the Autobots together like that," he said. "I never expected them to form a competent army. Losing those components was a major setback. Could things get any worse?"

A large set of doors hissed open to reveal the command center, largely empty except for the garishly coloured Seeker lounging in Megatron's throne. Starscream, somehow not in the brig, was regarding them with a faintly amused expression. He knew.

Another sigh, and Megatron reached up to press two fingers against his forehead in a gesture of irritation.

"Welcome back," Starscream said snidely, optics roving over the group gathering in the command center.

"Why aren't you in the brig?" Megatron snapped.

Starscream grinned and hopped out of the throne, sauntering over to them. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied.

"You little glitch," Megatron growled. "I should deactivate you for good right now."

"Probably," Starscream replied, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he were trying not to smile. "But I don't think you will."

"And why is that?"

Starscream allowed a slow smirk to cross his face then. "Because," he replied. "You _can't_."

***

Once again, thanks for reading. Update soon, unless I wind up with another case of the OMG-this-sucks ;)


	6. The Revelation

**Disclaimer: **Own Transformers, I do not.

**A/N: **Continued thanks to everyone reading/reviewing/alerting this story. You're all just awesome.

**Summary: **Megatron learns the secret behind Starscream's survival, and decides to put it to the test...

***Part 6***

"What do you mean, I _can't_?" Megatron growled, raising his fusion cannon to press against the advancing Starscream's cockpit canopy. "I'm afraid I have to disagree, Starscream."

Starscream faltered as the weapon hovered just over his spark chamber, in the exact same place Megatron had blasted him last time. He knew from the triumphant flash of Megatron's optics that his momentary lapse in bravery had shown on his faceplates, so he carefully rearranged them back into the smirk. "Well, that's no surprise," he said. "Sometimes I think it would kill you to admit that I was right about something. Oh, that reminds me. I was right about that battle. I told Soundwave the Autobots would win."

Megatron might have said something, but his words were lost in the irritated growl that emitted from his vocalizer at the same time. "You didn't answer my question," he said. "Why aren't you in the brig?"

Starscream shrugged. "I saw better things to do with my time than sit in a cell and wait for your, ah, _triumphant _return," he said. He glanced away, catching the bewildered looks on the faces of the other Decepticons that had entered the room - some of them entirely uninvited - and grinned. He could only imagine what was going through their minds at this turn of events.

Megatron's jaw clenched as he noticed what Starscream was looking at. "My office," he snapped. "Now. Soundwave, you will accompany me. The rest of you, get back to work." He stormed off towards the turbolift; Soundwave fell into step behind him, eventually followed by Starscream.

"'Screamer..." Skywarp said uncertainly as the trio passed. Was all the work he and Thundercracker had put into repairing Starscream about to go to waste?

"I hope you know what you're doing," Thundercracker added.

Starscream huffed at his trine-mates' uncertainty, even if it was only to try and quell the last of his. He had come up with a theory, one that had been forming in his processors ever since he had come back online after his supposed execution. He ran through the data he had downloaded to his core processor one more time to confirm it, historical records, energy reading comparisons.

The turbolift was oppressively quiet. Megatron stood, his frame rigid, staring at the doors. Soundwave did the same, though his head tilted ever so slightly in Starscream's direction, visor flashing occasionally.

Starscream felt the telepath trying to break into his thoughts. _Wouldn't you like to know what's in here?_ he thought as clearly as he could.

Soundwave stiffened and looked away.

The turbolift doors opened. Megatron was out before they had even opened all the way, walking briskly down the corridor towards his office. Soundwave followed confidently. He was one of the few Decepticons who could enter this level without worrying about security clearance.

Starscream, however, was more careful. Daring to encroach on Megatron's private level of the base had ended in some rather painful ways for him. Most recent in his memory banks was the encounter with the laser beam he had assumed to be a trigger for some sort of security system - only to find out that the laser _was _the security system as it nearly sliced his foot off.

Satisfied that nothing was going to attack him short of the cannon-wielding mech now punching in the entry code to his office, Starscream followed Soundwave. His earlier confidence, that which had led him to lounge idly in Megatron's throne even as he heard the commander returning from his failed mission, was wavering slightly. Exactly how sure was he about his new theory? Enough to withstand another attempt to kill him? He laughed weakly to himself. Even if he was one hundred percent certain, he still wanted to avoid getting blasted at all costs. That had fragging _hurt_.

Megatron activated the lights with a verbal command, more barked than spoken, and strode over to his desk. He nodded at Soundwave and gestured towards the chair in front of the desk, allowing his lieutenant to sit if he wished.

Soundwave remained standing.

Starscream took the chair instead, sitting there with all the smugness he could muster. At least until Megatron fixed him with the most furious glare he'd ever received.

"Explain."

"Straight to the point, eh, Megatron?" Starscream said.

"The quicker we get to the point, the sooner I can be rid of you," Megatron snapped in reply.

Starscream chuckled at this, but made no efforts to explain.

"Soundwave?" Megatron prompted. "Have you managed to find any answers?"

"Negative, Megatron," Soundwave replied. He didn't point out the fact that he had only just returned from the battlefield, and his attempts at probing Starscream's mind were weak at best, given his depleted energy levels.

Megatron sighed at this, faintly shaking his head.

"Getting frustrated, are we?" Starscream sneered.

Megatron calmly rose from his seat, walked around the desk, and backhanded Starscream as hard as he could. The dull _clang_ of metal against metal rang out, followed by another as the force of the blow caused the chair to tip and Starscream to land hard on his back on the floor. The warlord stomped hard on one of Starscream's wings, drawing a pained cry from the Seeker. He reached down and hauled Starscream to his feet, keeping one hand clasped around his wingtip. "Enough," he snarled. "You will explain. Unless you would rather just skip ahead to the part where I kill you. And this time, I _will _kill you."

Starscream managed only an incoherent screech until Megatron shoved him backwards. Forcing his bent wingtip back into shape, he righted his chair and sat down again. "Fine," he said indignantly.

Megatron also returned to his chair, leaning back and fixing Starscream with an expectant expression, his hands folded idly against his chestplate. A mocking gesture, for Megatron wasn't capable of that kind of patience.

Starscream rebooted his vocalizer. "I'm sure you've probably forgotten by now," he said irritably. "But before the war, before I joined the Decepticons, I was a scientist."

"And a pretty poor one at that, if your scientific _contributions _to the Decepticons are any indication," Megatron interrupted.

"It's not my fault you're too dense to understand half of the ideas I present," Starscream retorted. "I thought you wanted me to explain? Is it too much to ask that I do so uninterrupted?"

"I often wonder the same thing," Megatron replied.

Starscream shook his head. "As I was saying," he sighed. "Before the war, I worked in the sciences. I eventually took up deep-space exploration, once again, as you've probably forgotten. But this is before that. Back then, there were some suspicious reports circling in the Cybertronian news feeds, regarding a particular mech who had been involved in a fatal accident. At least, they assumed it was fatal - massive trauma to the spark chamber and all. Then, in the middle of categorizing his injuries for the archives, the mech suddenly sits up on the berth, looks at the examiner, and asks what the frag's going on." He paused then, distracted as much by his own thoughts as by the skeptical look Megatron was giving him.

Megatron glanced at Soundwave, then back to Starscream. "Go on," he said.

"Other cases like his started coming up," Starscream went on. "My colleagues were practically falling over themselves for a chance to study this…phenomenon, they called it. Overexcited glitches." He shook his head. "Eventually, a couple of the survivors relented and agreed to let us study them. My…lack of enthusiasm earned me a spot on the research team. I suppose they needed someone impartial, to point out flaws in the research."

"So I'm not the only one whose ideas you so willingly pick apart," Megatron muttered. "How relieving."

"Then _maybe_ you shouldn't have promoted me to a position that _requires _me to inform you when your oh-so-clever plans are doomed to fail," Starscream snapped, explanation temporarily forgotten.

"Rest assured, Starscream, your position as my second-in-command is a thing of the past," Megatron retorted.

Starscream looked as if he wanted to say something very rude indeed to that, but he just shook his head instead. "As I was saying," he said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "I ended up on the research team. It ended up being one of the longest and most frustrating projects I'd ever been a part of, especially when the answer turned out to be so simple."

"Simple," Megatron repeated.

"You should get that echo looked at," Starscream muttered. "Yes, simple. Turns out, Cybertronian evolution had decided to play a trick on us. Their sparks had mutated. Something had rendered them indestructible. Even in the case of fatal damage to the mech's body, their sparks wouldn't go out."

"As informative as this is, Starscream, what does it have to do with _you_?" Megatron said, though the sinking feeling coming over him suggested that he really didn't want to know.

Starscream saw the uncertainty in the leader's face and grinned. "During the project, one of the things we discovered was a certain, different pattern to the energy signatures. One shared by every subject we studied. We got a lot of mechs who were just in it for the attention, narcissitic fools…"

"You would know."

Starscream made a face at him, then continued on. "So this odd energy pattern became the way we determined who was a legitimate case and who was just messing with us." He paused, stretching out his arms above his head. "I'd almost completely forgotten about it. Funny how staring at the wall of a cell triggers your memory banks, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," Megatron replied coolly.

"So, I bribed the guard into letting me out," Starscream said, ignoring the interruption. "Considering he thinks I'm some spawn of the Unmaker come back to get him, it wasn't too hard. Superstitious fool. I dug up research I kept from the project and ran the tests on myself." He leaned forward. "So it's like I said earlier. You _can't _kill me."

Megatron's clenched his fists as he stared at Starscream, waiting for the moment where the Seeker would laugh at him and admit it was all nonsense. "Soundwave?" he said.

For once, Starscream let Soundwave root around in his mind. He knew what the telepath was looking for, and knew he wouldn't find it.

"I detect no deception," Soundwave finally replied.

Megatron scowled, unwilling to believe what he was hearing. "So what you're trying to tell me is that the most abrasive, sarcastic, insubordinate glitch to ever serve under my command possesses an indestructible spark?" he said.

Starscream nodded, grinning as if he had just told the funniest joke.

"Are you certain of this?"

The tone in Megatron's voice, accompanied by the familiar twitch of his right arm, effectively dispersed Starscream's grin. Yes, he was certain of the conclusions he had come to - that he shared the same strange energy pattern as the mechs he had helped study a long time ago, and that everyone who shared this energy pattern seemed to possess an indestructible spark. But being certain didn't equal a willingness to put himself through a very painful test.

Megatron, however, didn't follow through with the implied threat, and instead reached up to press a hand to his head, feeling the onset of a terrible ache in his processor. "I don't believe this," he muttered. He looked up at Soundwave, as if expecting his lieutenant to take back his earlier statement and confirm that Starscream was indeed lying. "This has to be some sick cosmic joke."

"So," Starscream said. "I guess the only question left is what you're going to do."

Megatron glared at him. "What do you mean?" he said.

"You can't kill me," Starscream replied. "So you might as well put me to use, right? I was listening in on that fight. You gots your afts handed to you. Now that Prime's managed to whip up a decent army, you're going to have to find some other strategical advantage."

"Starscream, you're an idiot if you think I'm just going to forget that you tried to assassinate me and take over as leader," Megatron said. "Do you honestly believe I'm going to let you stay with the Decepticons after that?"

"I thought you wanted that sort of ruthless ambition, my _lord_," Starscream said, feigning innocence.

"I value ambition," Megatron said. "I do not value treachery."

"It's a complete surprise to me to hear that you value _anything_," Starscream said in a long-suffering voice. "I warned you about the Autobots. You refused to see that the Autobots would become a threat. You refused to acknowledge the contributions of other Decepticons. My Seekers and I have saved countless of your stupid missions, and have we _ever _been recognized for it?"

Megatron was watching him with a bored expression. "Are you done whining?" he said when Starscream paused. "You're sounding more like one of those pathetic Autobots with every word."

"I can't hope to compare to the constant ranting you make us put up with," Starscream muttered.

"Enough!" Megatron snapped. "This has certainly been an interesting story, Starscream. I don't know whether it is true or not. But there is one very simple way to find out, isn't there?" He slowly rose to his feet, walking around the desk once more.

Starscream once again found himself staring down the barrel of the fusion cannon. Instinct propelled him out of his chair with a screech of alarm, and he backpedaled towards the door.

"Don't be a coward, Starscream," Megatron said. "After all, if your story is true, this won't kill you."

Starscream had his null-rays half raised before he remembered that they would be useless. His only defence was to fight Megatron off - in other words, he didn't have a chance. He wasn't built for hand-to-hand combat.

"How about…we make a deal?" Megatron said. "If you survive this, I'll keep you in the Decepticon ranks. After you've once again sworn unquestioning loyalty to me, of course. An indestructible soldier could prove valuable."

_Valuable? _The word seemed to ring in Starscream's audio receptors. He faltered, giving Megatron the chance he needed. "Wait!" Starscream screeched, holding out his arms as if they would be enough to stop the inevitable blast.

"But think of what I'm offering you, Starscream!" Megatron replied in a falsely sweet voice that sounded even more frightening than his usual growl. "A second chance! One that you are entirely undeserving of! Surely a little pain is worth that?" He didn't wait for an answer this time, and the cannon discharged.

A shriek tore itself from Starscream's vocalizer. His world flared blindingly violet for a brief moment, and then there was nothing.

***

Thanks for reading :) I'm almost done with the next chappie, so there might be less of a wait to update this time.


	7. The Battle Redux

**Disclaimer: **You guessed it. Still not owning the Transformers.

**A/N: **Dear Primus, fast update! Credit it to a rare burst of inspiration. More thanks for the reviews. You guys have really been keeping me motivated. You rock.

**Summary: **Starscream passes his "test", and the Decepticons attempt to rectify their last battle...

***Part 7***

_I'm not dead._ The slightly ridiculous thought was the first thing that ran through Starscream's rebooted processor. He onlined his optics to find himself staring at a drab, grey ceiling. That just proved it. No afterlife could possibly have a ceiling _that _ugly. He groaned loudly as he tried to raise his head. His entire body ached. Was that even possible? He abandoned the effort to look around, and was rewarded by the sudden appearance of a rather unpleasant-looking mech.

"You should be _scrap_," the medic informed him.

"What?" Starscream mumbled, slowly flexing his limbs and trying to remember why he was in the repair bay.

"You should be scrap," the medic repeated. "You took a point-blank fusion cannon blast to the _spark_. How are you still online?"

Oh. Right. _That _was why he was in the repair bay. "Maybe I'm just lucky," he muttered, feeling anything but. He managed to drag himself into a sitting position. He clutched a hand to his chestplate, expecting to find a gaping hole in his armor. Instead, his hand ran over the usual smooth glass. "You thought I was dead and you still repaired me?"

The medic shrugged. "Megatron's orders," he said. "Thought he'd gone crazy. Come to think of it, he was acting like he expected you to just get back up and…what the frag do you think you're doing?"

Starscream swung his legs off the repair berth, tentatively resting them on the floor, rising to his feet and testing their strength. The room spun slightly as he let go of the berth, but it wasn't long before the sensation passed. "So where's the almighty Megatron now?" he asked.

"On a mission, I believe," the medic replied, his back to Starscream, searching for something. "The Autobots are stepping up their counter-offensive."

"Did he take the Seekers?"

"Yes," was the reply.

Starscream sighed. "Then I guess I'd better go bail them out of whatever trouble he's gotten them into," he said. "Where are my weapons?"

The medic shrugged. "Check the armoury," he replied. "I'm a medic, not a weapons specialist."

Starscream shook his head at that. "Am I free to go, _doc_?" he said sweetly.

"Don't you use that tone on me," the medic snapped, waving a welding torch threateningly. "You want to go running off after all your armor and circuitry's just been replaced, fine by me. Don't think I'll take it easy on you when you end up back in here."

"When do you ever?" Starscream muttered, waving as he left the repair bay to a stream of curses shouted at his back. A quick stop at the armoury to retrieve his null-rays, and he was headed for the command center to figure out where the other Decepticons had gone.

He didn't recognize the Decepticon currently on monitor duty. "Mission progress report," he said as he strode up to the bank of monitors. "Has our leader managed to get himself in trouble yet?"

The 'Con at the monitors nearly jumped out of his seat. "Y-yes, sir," he managed to say. "Transmissions from Laserbeak and Buzzsaw show the Autobots are in motion, preparing to attack."

"Is Prime with them?" Starscream asked.

"Yes, sir."

Starscream retrieved the coordinates and headed back out without so much as a 'thank you'. Running a systems diagnostic as he rode the turbolift to the flight deck, he allowed himself a moment of laughter as he imagined the look on Megatron's face as the tyrant realized that, not only had he failed to kill Starscream _twice_, but he was effectively stuck with him. Because what kind of a leader would pass up a soldier who couldn't be killed? Especially one with Starscream's skill?

_Yes_, he told himself as he walked out onto the flight deck, _this is going to be interesting._

*

"Slag!" Thundercracker shouted as an explosion rocked the ground. He felt the searing heat against his back and threw himself forward to escape it, sprinting as he searched for a clearing to transform and take off. It had been a stupid mistake that had gotten him grounded in the first place, a momentary lapse of attention as he manoeuvred in for a dual attack with Skywarp. A stray laser blast - aimed at the nearby Dirge - had clipped his wing, sending him to the ground before he could compensate.

_Stupid, fragging Autobots, _Thundercracker thought as he ran to avoid a barrage of laser fire. When had the little glitches actually learned how to fight? When had the roles reversed so drastically, so as to make Thundercracker the one running for his life, and the Autobots the ones shooting at his back?

"TC, where are you?" Skywarp hollered over their private comm link. "You operational?"

"I'm fine!" Thundercracker snapped back; Skywarp's shout threatened to set off a terrible ache in his head, one he could do without if he were to maintain focus. He scanned the area, finding nothing but narrow alleyways and tall buildings. _How _had he managed to hit the ground in the first place? There was barely enough room down here to accommodate his wingspan, shouldn't he have ended up wedged between a couple of buildings or something?

"TC, you gotta get back up here!" Skywarp cried. "The Autobots are going _straight _for Megatron, they're not even bothering with the rest of us."

"What?" Thundercracker said, ducking out of the way as an Autobot spotted him and opened fire. He responded with a blast from his own weapon, landing a hit right to the arm. "I thought he and Soundwave were taking the underground tunnels!"

"I don't know, maybe they were blocked or something!" Skywarp said. "He needs air cover, now!"

"Where are the coneheads?" Thundercracker snapped, narrowly dodging another blast.

Skywarp didn't answer.

"Skywarp?!" Thundercracker shouted. Just as the name left his vocalizer, the squeal of metal scraping against metal tore into his audio receptors. Debris pelted his armor from above, and he raised a hand to shield his face, just as something black and purple dropped out of the sky and landed hard right in front of him. When he uncovered his face, Thundercracker saw Skywarp lying there on his back, a slightly dazed expression on his faceplates.

"Hi, TC," Skywarp said, his attempt at a casual tone foiled by the pained strain in his vocalizer. "Fancy meeting you here."

Thundercracker helped him to his feet, pulling him into a crossing alley as a pair of Autobots spotted them and unleashed a barrage of laser fire in their direction. "What happened to you?" he said.

"Slaggers jumped me," Skywarp muttered. "Just fragging leapt off a building, landed on my back. Couldn't shake 'em."

"You can still fly, though, right?" Thundercracker said anxiously.

"Yeah, 'course I can still fly," Skywarp said, slapping Thundercracker's hand away.

"Slag, 'Warp, don't take it out on me," Thundercracker muttered. He peered around the corner to find the Autobots still waiting for them. "We gotta get back in the air."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Skywarp said. "Autobots have this entire block closed in, you're not going to get enough clearance to take off." He cried out in surprise as a laser blast grazed his helmet, and spun to return fire.

"Then we're going to have to get creative," Thundercracker replied. He fired up his thrusters, scorching the metal underneath his feet as he rose into the air. He grabbed Skywarp's hand, dragging his trine-mate with him until Skywarp finally got the idea.

They had just cleared the roof when something struck Thundercracker hard in the chest, sending him crashing to the rooftop opposite. Letting out a surprised grunt, he looked up to see a gunner platform stationed there. He clutched a hand to his chestplate, watching dazedly as smoke rose from it.

"All Decepticons!" their commander's rasp of a voice shouted over the comm link. "Immediate assistance required! Slagging Autobots have me pinned down!"

"I have a funny feeling we've been here before, TC," Skywarp muttered darkly as he fired on the gunner manning a gun that looked far too big for a peace-loving Autobot.

"Me, too," Thundercracker muttered, struggling to get to his feet and assist Skywarp at the same time. "C'mon, we have to get those fraggers off Megatron." He cleared the smoke from his intakes and executed a transformation command, which his exhausted body refused to heed.

"Yeah, get him, Prime!" an Autobot shouted over an open comm link, either unaware or uncaring that the Decepticons could hear him.

"Frag," Skywarp snapped, tugging on Thundercracker's arm. "C'mon, he needs help!"

"I can't, 'Warp, my transformation relay's glitched," Thundercracker retorted. He fired as more Autobots arrived to man the gunner platform. "I can't fly as well in this mode."

Skywarp opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a high-pitched sound reached their audio processors. The sound of specialized jet engines pushed to their limit. A sound they both knew.

At that very moment, a silver and red blur streaked past them, unleashing a storm of laser fire on the Autobots below.

"Slag it all," Skywarp said, laughing triumphantly. "It's Starscream!"

"Seekers, assemble!" Starscream's shrill voice rang out over the battlefield. "Let's show our almighty leader how it's done!"

Skywarp, still laughing, leapt into the air, transforming gracefully and then teleporting to Starscream's side. Thundercracker executed another transformation command, and this time, his body relented, folding in on itself into his flight mode. He joined his two trine-mates on their next pass, elation surging through him despite his exhaustion and injury. Together, they swooped down on the Autobots, scattering their forces almost effortlessly. Thundercracker locked his weapons on Optimus Prime, who had Megatron pinned into a corner. The Autobot leader cried out in pain as the blast struck him in the back, dead center.

"You would think they'd never seen a proper Seeker attack formation before," Starscream commented disdainfully as they banked for another pass.

"Not for a long time, they haven't," Skywarp admitted. "Good to have you back, 'Screamer."

"Stop calling me that," Starscream snapped irritably.

The tides of battle on the ground had turned. Scattered by the Seekers' attack, the Autobots had left themselves wide open for Megatron's furious counter-assault. Soundwave emerged soon after, fighting with every bit of ferocity as his leader. And his cassettes were no exception: Ravage charged down the smaller Autobots. Rumble and Frenzy tag-teamed one of the larger mechs, Rumble scoring a painful-looking hit to the face with one of his piledrivers. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw flew circles around a particularly slow Autobot.

The Seekers circled the battlefield, taking down any Autobot who got too close. The coneheads, on Starscream's order, streaked away to cut off approaching reinforcements.

Finally, Optimus Prime paused to survey the damaged remains of his attack force. His blue optics flashed as he met Megatron's gaze. "You win, this time," he said, raising his voice to call out to his troops. "Autobots, retreat!"

"Yeah!" Rumble shouted, pumping a fist into the air. "Run, you slaggers!"

Starscream transformed and touched down, followed by his trine. "Now _that's _a satisfying sight, isn't it?" he said, watching the Autobots in full retreat. "Ramjet, cease assault. They need a road to flee for their lives, after all."

"Acknowledged, Starscream," Ramjet replied over the link.

"Frag, I'd forgotten how good it feels to win a battle!" Skywarp said.

Thundercracker smacked him over the back of the head as Megatron turned to glare in their direction. Still, he couldn't help but agree, as he reached out and gave Starscream an appreciative pat on the shoulder.

Starscream laughed in reponse, trading mock-punches with the other two, elation temporarily overriding his usual snippy attitude. "You really nailed Prime back there, TC," he said. "That was some good shooting."

The compliment surprised Thundercracker, especially after receiving nothing but disdain and insults since Starscream's plans had gone up in smoke. "Uh, thanks," he managed to say.

"Yeah, we totally saved-" Skywarp began, before his optics locked on something behind Starscream, and his vocalizer dissolved into static.

Megatron had walked over to them, and was now glaring at the back of Starscream's head. At least, until the Seeker turned to face him. "Looks like you were right," he finally said.

"You sound so thrilled," Starscream replied, crossing his arms. "Now, about that deal you offered me…"

Megatron grimaced at those words, abruptly turning away. "Decepticons, move out!" he shouted. "We still have a mission to complete."

Starscream smirked at this, then turned his gaze to his trine. "Good to be back," he said.

***

That about does it, folks. One more chapter in the works, then it's off to explore new plot-frontiers (if more Seeker-centric plots can be considered "new frontiers", that is...)


	8. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: **Nope. Still not mine.

**A/N: **And so, we come to the end of my first fic. Thanks to everyone who's read, alerted, reviewed, and favorited it. I don't think I could have asked for a better response. Thanks!

**Summary: **Starscream is reinstated into the Decepticons, but he's not happy at the cost.

***Part 8: Epilogue***

Starscream sat at the desk in his private quarters, datapads spread across its surface. Old research, scientific documents he hadn't so much as glanced at since joining the Decepticons. Megatron had recruited him as a warrior. As a consequence, Starscream had abandoned his interest in science. His enlistment into the 'Cons wasn't the only reason, of course, but he didn't like to think about that. He had turned his back on that life. It showed, too, in how much he struggled to make sense of the information in front of him now. He recognized his typically hotheaded method of documentation, though: jumping to conclusions before all the evidence was in, throwing accusations at his colleagues. Even back then, patience and humility were foreign concepts to him.

Sighing, he straightened up, rolling his shoulders back and trying to ease the ache still creeping across his back. As he had expected, Megatron was furious over his continued existence, even more furious that he now had to go through with the deal he had offered. He clearly hadn't expected Starscream to survive the second attempt to kill him. He had raged and threatened, but in the end, he had grudgingly accepted Starscream back into the ranks of the Decepticons. Not without a few conditions, and not without making Starscream vow his loyalty once again. That, of course, included once again branding the Decepticon insignia into his wings, the source of his current discomfort.

What would have been the start of a good tirade against the leader was interrupted when Skywarp suddenly materialized in the middle of the room, looking rather pleased with himself. "There you are!" he said.

Starscream scowled at him, pointedly looking at the door, then back at his trine-mate. "Does a locked door mean nothing to you?" he asked, tapping his fingers against the surface of the desk.

"I didn't use the door," Skywarp said innocently.

"Indeed." Starscream began to pack up the datapads. There was no way he would be able to concentrate now.

"What are you doing, moping around in here?" Skywarp asked. "The party's just getting started in the rec room. Let's go grab some high-grade and celebrate!" He practically bounced on his feet, grinning like an idiot. When Starscream didn't move, he walked around the desk and grabbed his trine leader by the arm. "C'mon, 'Screamer, let's go!"

Starscream let out a hiss of pain as Skywarp's arm inadvertently brushed against the scarred metal of his wing. "Get off me!" he snapped, jerking his arm out of Skywarp's grasp. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop with that slagging nickname?"

"Lost count," Skywarp said, shrugging. "When are you gonna give up? It's kinda pointless."

Starscream shook his head, deciding to ignore the obnoxious glitch . Skywarp would get bored eventually, and head off to annoy someone else. To illustrate this, he leaned back in his seat and offlined his optics.

"Geez, how can you read this stuff?" Skywarp said. "I'm going into recharge just looking at it."

Starscream brought his optics back online. Skywarp had grabbed a datapad off the desk and was staring at it as if the words were written in another language. "Go away, Skywarp," he muttered.

"Whoever wrote this must have been one boring mech," Skywarp went on, tilting the datapad as if that would make it easier to understand.

Starscream made an irritated noise, stood up and grabbed it out of his hands, smacking him hard in the shoulder for good measure. "_I _wrote it, you fool," he said. "And I'll have you know that this particular report was published in some of Cybertron's most renowned scientific datatracks."

Skywarp looked at him as if he had spontaneously grown another set of wings. "You gotta be kidding me," he muttered, sauntering over to the door. He unlocked and opened the door, letting Thundercracker in.

"Does privacy mean nothing to you two?" Starscream snapped.

"Not really," Skywarp replied casually, moving to a chair and flopping down. He made a show of stretching out his limbs.

"I'm going to report you for unauthorized use of your teleportation ability," Starscream threatened, jabbing a datapad in the air for emphasis.

Skywarp grinned. "No, you're not," he said.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?" Starscream replied.

"You _can't_," Skywarp said, still grinning. "It's all over the base, 'Screamer. Megatron had you demoted."

Starscream threw the datapad at him, muttering a curse when Skywarp teleported out of the way. "Get out of here," he snapped.

"Why?" Skywarp said, grinning. "Did I just hit a sore spot?"

Starscream huffed and made a show of tidying his desk. His circuits were starting to heat up in humiliated rage. If it hadn't been for his involvement, the Decepticons would have been crawling back to base, battered and empty-handed. He had saved the mission, saved Megatron's aft, and how had the leader rewarded him? By stripping him of both his Air Commander and Second-in-Command titles, by removing him from active duty and assigning him to stare at security monitors for his entire shift. If he wanted to stay with the Decepticons, the commander had said, then he was going to have to work for it.

"Who just saved all of your afts out there?" he said, finally giving voice to his thoughts. He stood up to replace the datapads on the shelf behind him, once again feeling the ache in his wings as he reached up. "It's only temporary. Soon enough, he'll realize how much he needs me as SiC. I'll get my rank back, just watch."

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Skywarp complained. "You still think Megatron's a lousy leader."

Starscream answered with something that sounded like a snort. "What surprises me is that neither of you have come to realize it," he said. He turned back to face them. "That reminds me. Why _did _you agree to help me in the first place? You couldn't have known that Megatron would interfere."

Skywarp and Thundercracker shared a glance, but didn't reply.

"That's hardly an answer," Starscream huffed.

"Yeah, well, you're still not tellin' us why Megatron still hasn't managed to kill you," Skywarp said, crossing his arms. "If you're gonna keep secrets, then maybe we should, too."

"That's enough," Thundercracker said, standing between the two of them as if to stop them from attacking each other. "I think it's time we put this behind us."

Starscream and Skywarp looked at him, then back at each other. Neither of them looked too thrilled with the idea.

"Fine," Thundercracker said. "Then no one's going to stop me from saying this." He turned to look at Starscream. "You got lucky. I hope you realize that."

"Lucky," Starscream scoffed. "Right."

"I'm serious!" Thundercracker said in exasperation. "By all rights, you should be dead."

Starscream shifted in his seat at that. "Well, I'm not," he said. He hadn't told his trine-mates about his discovery, and he didn't plan to. He had learned his lesson in trusting them - anyone - with his plans.

And planning he was. This recent development had only served to prove that Megatron's reign as Decepticon leader was coming to a close. For now, Starscream would watch. He would study the commander's every move. He would learn his weaknesses and find a way to subvert his strengths. And then, when the time was right, he would take his rightful place at the top of the Decepticon hierarchy.

He had an eternity to do it, after all.

END

***

Thanks for reading. I shall return with my next fic soon enough.


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